The Gravitational Wave (GW) universe contains a wealth of sources which, with
the proper treatment, will open up the universe as never before. By observing
massive black hole binaries to high redshifts, we should begin to explore the
formation process of seed black holes and track galactic evolution to the
present day. Observations of extreme mass ratio inspirals will allow us to
explore galactic centers in the local universe, as well as providing tests of
General Relativity and constraining the value of Hubble's constant. The
detection of compact binaries in our own galaxy may allow us to model stellar
evolution in the Milky Way. Finally, the detection of cosmic (super)strings and
a stochastic background would help us to constrain cosmological models.
However, all of this depends on our ability to not only resolve sources and
carry out parameter estimation, but also on our ability to define an optimal
data analysis strategy. In this presentation, I will examine the challenges
that lie ahead in GW astronomy for the ESA L3 Cosmic Vision mission, eLISA.Comment: 12 pages. Plenary presentation to appear in the Proceedings of the
Sant Cugat Forum on Astrophysics, Sant Cugat, April 22-25, 201